Couldn't Wait For Fall

I had a little time on my hands today (minus the floors that needed mopped and vacuumed) and I was thinking of all the exciting things that are coming in the Fall. Fall is my favorite time of the year for the obvious reasons like the beautiful changing scenery, cooler weather, HALLOWEEN, THANKSGIVING, Austin and Allison's birthdays, our anniversary, etc!!! And I think even more so this year...because we will be done with the house, moved in, hopefully, and finally be going on our family vacation. Better late then never, right! So in celebration of Fall and all the many wonderful things to come...I changed my blog. HeHe

A First For Everything...

Well, now that the fundraiser is over I have a little more time on my hands (not a lot but a little:)) I can actually update you on my little munchkins. They are growing too fast...I feel like I have not been able to fully enjoy these last few months with them because we have been so busy...I am hoping to be able to simplify my life again soon so I can appreciate everyday a little more.

Austin started school on the 14th. He was so excited. He loves school and he loves his new teacher! I have only seen her twice since school started but both times she just raved about how helpful and on-task Austin is. That is always so helpful to know...one less worry I have - at least for now! Here are the pics of our families' "back-to-school" party and Austin's first day of school.

The Toothfairy finally stopped at the DeMille's. Austin lost his first tooth the other day!

Allie had her first "Pajama Party" with her cousin Emma. They watched princess movies, ate candy and popcorn and did each other's hair...so girly!

Next time my goal is to have more pics of my sweet Abigail. For some reason I never get enough pics of her.

Success in more ways then one!

The fundraiser on Saturday went well...not quite as well as I had hoped but everyone else in the family seemed pleased. We had a steady stream of customers for the first few hours and not many gaps until we closed at 4. I just have to THANK everyone who came and either donated money, food and/or garage-sale items! The money earned will definitely be helpful to Ashton's recovery. THANK YOU SO MUCH AGAIN!

Ashton is doing awesome! He spoke for the first time this weekend and is speaking more and more everyday. Everything is still difficult for him...you can see him really working hard on every movement he makes but he has really improved dramatically. Everyday he has a slew of therapy sessions...speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, etc. He is usually pretty exhausted by the end of the day. He will be in the hospital for a couple of more weeks as of now but the doctors change their mind every day because he is making such GREAT progress! Miracles really happen everyday!

Baby Steps!

Ashton continues to make baby steps to healing. He still has a feeding tube but he was able to eat pudding and keep it down. YEAH! He doesn't like to be in the hospital room so they have been wheeling him around the different hospital gardens and that seems to make him a lot more relaxed. He still isn't speaking or walking but he is smiling and LAUGHING! Wow, what a wonderful sound that must be! He was also able to match up some cars to their right colors. That is amazing!

Don't forget about Ashton's Fundraiser this Saturday, August 23rd at Main St. Park in Cedar City from 9:30-4pm. You can also donate to Mountain America Credit Union on behalf of Ashton Stephens.

Ashton's Fundraiser

OK guys, I am super unbelievably busy this week but I wanted to give a quick update on Ashton and talk about our little fundraiser.

Ashton is currently out of ICU...YAHOO! He is still going to be in the hospital for a week...maybe more. Due to the brain trauma he received he still is not able to speak. He does respond with his eyes and seems to understand most things. They are still doing tests on how his vision, walking, and other bodily functions may have been affected. Either way it looks like he will probably need weeks or maybe months of rehabilitation but WE WILL get the old Ashton back. That is great news!!!

EVEN SO, everyone knows how fast and how much medical expenses add up. So we are holding a fundraiser this Saturday - August 23rd at Main St. Park in Cedar City from 9:30-4pm. It will be a garage sale/bake sale. Please bring what you can for either and buy as much as you can!!!
Monetary donations will also be accepted at Mountain America Credit Union under Ashton Stephens.

ONE LAST THING...THANK YOU! THANK YOU! to all who have already donated your time, thoughts, prayers, money to him and his family. His family can definitely feel the prayers that have been said on their behalf and are definitely strengthened by them. The response has already been amazing and we are looking for a big response this weekend at the fundraiser! See you there!

Update on Ashton

Ashton just had his third brain scan and there is still a lot of swelling but for the most part things are looking really good. He has a couple of little areas of the brain that look a little damaged but the doctors said that because he is so young his brain will most likely be able to adapt for them. They finally took his intubator out but he still has a feeding tube. His 9 year old sister Alaina got him to open his eyes for her for the first time. He has a bruised lung but miraculously no broken bones. He actually skid on his face and has pretty bad road rash so may have to skin grafts but they will wait to see how he continues to heal. That is the progress for today...but it IS progress!

Update on Ashton...

It is so weird how sometimes something can seem so important and then something else happens and changes everything. Before Tuesday night, the house was consuming our lives and unfortunately our children's as well. Although the house still has to be finished and is definitely still important, after Ashton got hit by the car it seems everyone in the family seems to be treating their children a little bit differently...keeping them a little closer, being a little nicer, hugging them a little tighter.

Ashton made some babysteps to healing. He squeezed Angie's hand (his mother) so that is always an awesome feeling. Ashton will be there for quite a while but we think he will pull through.

There will be an account set up in his name for any monetary contributions. There is also a garage sale being planned (with all proceeds going to Ashton). More info. on that to come.

Prayers Needed

This is our nephew, Ashton. This sweet little boy was hit by a car last night. He was life-flighted to Primary Children's Hospital. He is now breathing on his own but he hasn't woken up yet. They are still waiting for additional tests on any permanent brain damage which they won't know for certain until he wakes up. Any additional prayers that you can give on his behalf and his parents would be greatly appreciated. Thank you guys!

House Update - Week 16

Well we have made a lot of progress in the last couple of weeks on the house and it seems to be moving double time now...probably because subs have taken over and Chris hasn't had to do as much. :) It is amazing what a crew can do vs. a one man show. Robert got an amazing deal on drywall and so we were able to drywall the entire house - including the basement - for the same price as just the top floor and they even did a good job. We were so excited about that!! The stucco is mostly finished. I was a little dissappointed with the stucco colors (ok, a lot dissappointed!) but I think it is growing on me and once the stone is on, I am sure it will look even better. It is also now painted and we are just waiting for the base/casing, soffit/facia, flooring and cabinets. Hopefully it will only be another 4-5 weeks now. Wow, that seems so soon! Woohoo! Here are the pics...

Ready for stucco...

Drywalled...and our beautiful front door...it wasn't the original one we wanted but it is still a great door.

Kids Pics!

Here are some pics of the kids and what they have been up to this summer besides playing in the mud...at the house! :)

Austin went to Camp Invention,
a science camp, for a week and
one of the days was crazy clothes
day...here is what we came up with!










Austin dressed Allie in his own clothes! Even dressed like a boy she is still a pretty little girl!





For the 24th of July (that's Utah Pioneer Day for those of you not familiar with Utah) we went to the Enterprise Parade where Austin and Allie rode on my parents 4-wheelers in the parade and threw candy at the spectators (or at least tried). (Just FYI: If you want candy at a parade you should come to Enterprise...the kids got a whole bag of candy plus two otter-pops each.)














After the parade on the 24th we went back to Newcastle and ate lunch and played in their big water toys!















After that we went to Chris' parents house and had dinner and watched fireworks. Most of the kids loved them...they just didn't like how loud they were.















Playing at the park


































Allie trying to hold Abigail...Abigail trying to get away and Austin being a ham!

Flashback Friday and some other random stuff...

I have been thinking a lot about mine and Chris' wonderful families lately because they have been so much help to us on building our house. So, in honor of all of them I thought for flashback Friday I would put some old family pics up. They will just love these!

This is my favorite one of Chris when he was little....1980
This is the only one with ALL 10 of them...1998
This is the only one of my entire family...1986
I also added some more pics to the slideshows at the left. And yes...I do have three children...Abigail finally got her own slideshow...even if it does only have a couple of pages. I am actually surprised I have found time to scrapbook at all but it has provided some sanity after the kids go to bed and I wait up for Chris to come home from working on the house.

Also, I have been meaning to mention to those who love digital scrapbooking freebies that there is another link that has a lot of great stuff....here is the link...go check it out!

One last thing...if anyone is in the need of a Structural Engineer (serving Nevada, Arizona and Utah) or a General Contractor (serving Southern Utah) then I added links to the left for contact info. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!